Questions (ours and yours) for Semi-Homemade’s Sandra Lee

Attention, fans of Sandra Lee of Semi-Homemade fame! Do you have a burning question for Sandra Lee? Or a desire to get up close when she comes to town in October?

The P-I is once again partnering with the University Book Store, for a contest on the new Sandra Lee “Money Saving Meals” book. Send us in a question for Lee — it can be about any aspect of cooking or homemaking, not just budget tips — and we’ll print her answers in the P-I on the day of her appearance, Oct. 22, along with some tips and recipes from the book. Readers whose questions we print will get a spot at the front of the line at Lee’s 7 p.m. appearance and a free copy of one of her latest cookbooks.

I chatted with Lee on the phone last week about budget cooking, brand names, Costco cakes and a host of other topics. In tone, she reminded me of a toned-down Suze Orman, driven and passionate. In a departure from our standard scratch-cooking-organic-eat-food-not-too-much-mostly-vegetables programming, here’s some of what Lee had to say. And if you have a question for her, send it to me at rebekahdenn@seattlepi.com by 9 a.m. Oct. 8:

One appliance she would invest in: A slow cooker. “You can take the least expensive cuts of meat you would never put in the oven or grill, and put them in the slow cooker, and they turn into the most savory, melt-in-your-mouth, fall-off-the-bone, incredible masterpieces a culinary French chef would be proud of. And it’s real, it’s not expensive and it’s (already) in most of our cupboards.”

On fancy birthday cakes for kids: Decorate a plain, inexpensive sheet cake from Costco — “I have to tell you, Costco does the best buttercream — ” by placing a round 8-inch cake on top of the sheet cake and ringing it with little cupcakes or decorative cookies. It’s all edible, it will cost well under $50, and it will make a great centerpiece.

On the need for budget-conscious cooking: Last year, Lee pitched both a book and a TV show on the topic, and both were initially rejected. She pushed hard for the book, she said, “feeling that strong about it, to put my relationship with 17 books with my publisher on the line.”

“It’s something that’s desperately needed right now, and it’s needed for a lot of different reasons.” Food prices, obviously, are at a premium — but so is time. “It’s really unprecedented that we are so strapped for time, we don’t even have the time to… be thoughtful about how we’re shopping.

“It’s not like it’s back in the Depression or back in the ’50s,” where money was a challenge but most homes had a single breadwinner.

Her arguments worked for the book. Then, last week, the Food Network called her back to say they wanted to do the “money saving meals” show after all. Suddenly, the need is broadly clear.

On when she thinks the economy’s troubles are really going to hit home: Not for another few months. “I truly believe we’re going to get into this election and feel relieved (that a decision has been made).” Thanksgiving people will just enjoy. At Christmas, they won’t feel like dealing with the economy, and will still spend more than they mean to. Then, finally, the bill will come due. “I think when January comes, people are going to be like, ‘Oh, my God,’ and everything is going to come to a standstill.”

On eating at home and where to cut corners: It’s possible to economize without sacrificing family bonds. “This economy is when marriages fall apart. (But) it can go either way. This can be the time when marriages get stronger and people hunker down together at home … Do you remember when you were a kid and weren’t allowed to turn on the heat? That’s not what we want the kids to remember. We’re going to stay home, and put the heat on and the TV on, and not go to the movies. You’ve got to pick your, what I call ‘picking your prices.’ What price are you going to pay? The memories are not the price you pay when you have children. Food is not the price. Heat is not the price. Movies, that’s OK (to give up), travel, that’s OK.”

On whether people can substitute other brand names for the ones she specifies in her recipes, and the flak she gets for specifying brands: Go ahead, substitute! Do whatever you want — including, in the example I used, using the fresh garlic I already had in my kitchen instead of buying the pre-chopped version she lists in a recipe. But be aware, Lee warned, that the recipe might not work the same way using different brands — or, in extreme cases, might not work at all. For instance, “Reddi-Wip and Cool Whip are two completely different products. If you wanted to make chocolate mousse, and started with a chocolate pudding and you’re going to fold in a whipped topping, you can beat the heck out of whipped cream and make a whipped topping if you want to. Great! But in my recommendations, if you’re going to use a pre-made whipped topping, you can only use Cool Whip, because Reddi-Wip will fall apart.

“It’s funny, because that’s why people take a shot at Semi-Homemade, at me, at whatever. My job is to tell you what I used … They are not endorsed, these recipes, they are not given to me by ‘the man,’ and the man does not pay me to use these recipes or to recommend the name brands in it. I tell you what I used.”

On budget cooking: She doesn’t like to tell people to buy items that make them feel “they’re eating the cheapest thing in the market.” She prefers steering them toward, say, cheaper types and cuts of meat, or giving them tips on inexpensive ways to doll up a dish. Giving people ways to cook “special, meaningful meals” is high on her list. Her favorite part of the book? The “cook once, eat thrice” section with one Sunday-dinner sort of recipe and then ways to eat off the leftovers the next two nights. “That’s probably the most time-practical and money-practical simultaneously.” A nice family dinner, she thinks, is an important goal even when shaving costs. “At the end of the day, you want life to be special. This is not supposed to be a root canal.”